1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to thin film devices and more specifically to a method, apparatus and computer program product for identifying electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage to a thin film device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic head disk drive systems are widely employed in the computer industry as a cost effective form of data storage. In a magnetic disk drive system, a magnetic recording medium, in the form of a disk, rotates at a high speed while a magnetic read/write transducer, generally referred to as a magnetic head, elevates slightly above the surface of the rotating disk. The magnetic head is attached to or formed integrally with a "slider" that is suspended over the disk on a spring-loaded support arm known as an actuator arm. As the magnetic disk is rotated at its operating speed, moving air generated by the rotating disk in conjunction with the physical design of the slider operate to lift the magnetic head allowing it to glide or elevate slightly above and over the disk surface on a cushion of air, generally referred to as an air bearing. The height at which the magnetic head elevates over the disk surface is typically only a few microinches or less and is primarily a function of the disk's rotation, the aerodynamic properties of the slider assembly and the force exerted by the spring-loaded arm.
The magnetic head typically includes a magnetoresistive (MR) transducer or sensor element electrically connected to detection circuitry. MR sensors are well known in the art and are particularly useful as read elements in magnetic transducers, especially at high data recording densities. The MR sensor generally has a resistance that modulates in response to changing magnetic fields corresponding to magnetically encoded information. The detection circuitry detects the resulting changes in resistance by passing a sense current through the MR sensor and measuring the voltage drop across the MR sensor. The detected voltage signal is then used to recover information from the magnetic disk. The MR read sensor provides a higher output signal than an inductive read head. This higher output signal results in a higher signal to noise ratio for the recording channel and consequently permits higher area density of recorded data on a magnetic disk surface.
A major problem encountered during the manufacturing and assembly of magnetic heads is the buildup of electrostatic charges on the various elements of a magnetic head or other objects that come into contact with the magnetic head and the accompanying spurious discharges of static energy generated. For example, static charges may be generated by the presence of certain materials, such as plastics, during the manufacture and subsequent handling of the magnetic heads. These charges can induce or result in electrostatic discharge. The net effect of such a discharge often damages or degrades the MR sensor in reading data correctly.
Currently, the ESD screening regimes employed in the manufacture of MR sensors are typically of two general types. One approach is to employ a sampling method wherein a number of randomly chosen MR sensors are selected and undergo a detail inspection. This approach, however, may not catch all the sensors that may have suffered ESD damage. Another method is to take a first measurement of the resistance of every sensor prior to final fabrication and a second subsequent resistance measurement of all the sensors after final fabrication. The two resistance measurements are then compared with each other to identify potential ESD damage. This method, however, requires two measurements that increase the time required to fabricate a sensor.